These comments are responses
to the statements listed below,
which were generated in regard to the Katie Misukanis / Tom Kosel
Interview of 06-06-2014.

Kathleen Misukanis & Tom Kosel of the Minnesota Career College Association

OVERVIEW

According to Tom Kosel of Globe University
and Katie Misukanis of Rasmussen College, both active in the Minnesota
Career College Association (MCCA), for-profit (proprietary) higher
education institutions serve students who haven't found success
elsewhere and are often those students' "last hope." The for-profit
schools, whose focus is to train students for jobs, offer extensive
support services and serve older students, with an average age of 27,
who are coming back to school to be retrained. Fourteen for-profit
postsecondary companies, with 36 campuses in Minnesota, are part of
the MCCA. There are 30,000 students statewide in the for-profit higher
education sector, most of whom (63 percent) get associate degrees. A
higher percentage of students at for-profit schools take out loans
and, on average, their cumulative debt when they finish school is
higher than in the public and nonprofit institutions.

Kosel says the for-profit sector offers
competition to public-sector higher education institutions. He said
for-profit schools have had extensive student support services all
along and were among the first to offer students hybrid courses, which
combine online work with on-campus classes that meet once a week.
Public sector schools have since picked up a lot of these things, he
notes. Misukanis maintains that proprietary schools can adapt more
quickly to changes in the job market by sunsetting programs where
there is little job demand and adding new programs with good job
prospects.

Kosel and Misukanis call proprietary
colleges and universities "educational businesses" and recognize that
not everybody accepts the concept of making a profit in education.
They point out that for-profits are left out of high school college
and career centers and are rarely recommended by high school
counselors or state workforce centers. They are also excluded from the
state's Postsecondary Enrollment Options program (PSEO), which allows
high school students, at no cost, to enroll in public and nonprofit
postsecondary schools and earn both high school and college credit.

Average response ratings shown below
are simply the mean of all readers’ zero-to-ten responses to the ideas
proposed and should not be considered an accurate reflection of a
scientifically structured poll.

To assist the Civic Caucus in planning
upcoming interviews, readers rated these statements about the topic on
a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 5 (neutral) to 10 (strongly
agree):

(4.7 average response)
It would be helpful to schedule
additional interviews on this topic.

Readers rated the following points discussed
during the meeting on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 5 (neutral)
to 10 (strongly agree):

3. For-profit schools offer valued training.

(7.5 average
response) For-profit career and
trade schools are significant assets for Minnesota because they offer
training that can be immediately applied to specific jobs.

4. Treat postsecondary providers equally.

(7.4 average
response) State laws should treat
for-profit, nonprofit and state government postsecondary education
institutions even-handedly, without favoritism toward or
discrimination against one system relative to others.

5. For-profit faculty work in fields taught.

(8.1 average
response) A particular strength of
for-profit career and trade schools is that most faculty members are
currently employed in the very fields they are teaching.

6. Include for-profit schools in PSEO.

(5.7 average
response) Minnesota’s
Postsecondary Enrollment Options program (PSEO)should allow high
school students to enroll in postsecondary classes offered not only by
nonprofit and state government education systems, but also by
for-profit career and trade schools.

Response Distribution:

Strongly disagree

Moderately disagree

Neutral

Moderately agree

Strongly agree

Total Responses

1. Topic is of value.

0%

9%

9%

55%

27%

11

2. Further study warranted.

9%

18%

45%

27%

0%

11

3. For-profit schools offer valued
training.

0%

9%

9%

55%

27%

11

4. Treat postsecondary providers
equally.

18%

0%

9%

18%

55%

11

5. For-profit faculty work in fields
taught.

0%

0%

18%

36%

45%

11

6. Include for-profit schools in PSEO.

18%

9%

27%

18%

27%

11

Individual Responses:

Ray Ayotte (7.5) (2.5) (10) (10) (10) (10)

Dave Broden (7.5) (5) (5) (10) (7.5) (7.5)

1. Topic is of value. Filled a gap in
types of education [reviewed].

2. Further study warranted. Basic
information is what was needed.

3. For-profit schools offer valued training.
Certainly applies to some case but likely not in general.

5. For-profit faculty work in fields taught.
Valid if the faculty member is current in the approach and [in the]
technology being taught and has a vision and understanding of the
future.

6. Include for-profit schools in PSEO.
With appropriate standards.

Scott Halstead (2.5) (0) (7.5) (0) (5) (0)

Susan Casserly (10) (7.5) (10) (10) (10) (5)

2. Further study warranted. Didn't get
to the issue of transfer of credits. MnSCU colleges refuse to accept
even identical classes, results from identical tests, i.e., AccuPlacer,
etc., from any for-profit sector school, creating chaos for students
who might want to transfer back into a public subsidy institution.

6. Include for-profit schools in PSEO.
Not a fan of PSEO, I think the high schools should offer more
challenging classes, and keep the college/post-secondary bound
students on their campuses serving as role models and leaders to
younger students. However if PSEO is an option, then students should
be able to take classes at the school of their choice including
for-profit sector schools .

David Dillon (10) (5) (10) (10) (10) (10)

4. Treat postsecondary providers equally.
Of course it should, competition is a wonderful thing for the
consumer and results in all kinds of positive outcomes. Look for the
disingenuous arguments from those who don't want to compete. (And who
could blame them?)

Don Anderson (5) (5) (7.5) (7.5) (5) (2.5)

Kevin Edberg (7.5) (2.5) (2.5) (0) (7.5) (0)

3. For-profit schools offer valued training.
That hasn't been the experience of individuals in my circle of family
and friends.

4. Treat postsecondary providers equally.
Count me as one of those who don't buy into the notion, and who has
not been persuaded by the experience of those in and graduated from
the for-profit system.

Chuck Lutz (8) (7) (9) (9) (10) (8)

Paul Hauge (8) (7) (6) (5) (7) (5)

Bright Dornblaser (10) (5) (7) (10) (7) (5)

Tom Spitznagle (8) (5) (8) (10) (10) (10)

The Civic Caucusis a non-partisan,
tax-exempt educational organization. The Interview Group
includes persons of varying political persuasions,
reflecting years of leadership in politics and
business. Click here to see a short personal background of each.